Children's cribs capable of being foded into a relatively compact configuration for ease of moving and for storage have been known for many years, and a variety of such cribs is available on the market place. A number of such cribs are shown in the U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,896,513 of Boucher; 3,722,009 of Hrynda; 3,654,645 of Lee; and 4,097,942 of Bridger. Some of such units are constructed for use as a combination crib and playpen, as illustrated by U.S. Pat. No. 3,800,341 of Davanzo. This unit has sides hinged such that upon folding, each side collapses into the end piece, which is constructed like one half of a suitcase, and the end pieces are then latched together to provide a self-contained suitcase-like unit. An earlier collapsible crib having essentially the same folding mechanism as the Davanzo unit is that shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,631,548 of Dahab. In this unit, the side panels are provided with spring-loaded barrel bolts which lock the respective sides in the open position when the crib is in use.
Each of the presently available folding crib constructions suffers from certain deficiencies. Some are not designed to fold into an optimally small package. Others are rather heavy or cumbersome, while still others are rather flimsy. Some are unduly complex.
Cribs having hinged sides present the possibility of undue flexing at the joints, which can lead to instability of the crib as a whole. Furthermore, as the general shape of the crib is frequently defined and maintained by the crib bottom, if the sides or ends can bow out from the bottom sections, the possibility exists that a baby's hand or foot may become pinched between the side and the bottom, resulting in injury. The possibility of injury also exists where the side can bow inwardly, opening the butted ends of the side rails somewhat to create a small space therebetween which later closes up again when the side resumes its normal position.
Various mechanisms for reinforcing joints in foldable crib sides have been employed by the art. In the crib of Boucher, each folding end is provided with a gate lock 26. In the crib of Hrynda the sides are held in open position by a latch 34 secured by brackets 35. In the Lee crib the sides are locked in a straight position by slide locks in which a shaft in one side section fits into a socket in the other side section. Bridger employs a simple catch structure 45 to stabilize the joint in the sides of his crib. In the Davanzo crib, a rigid sleeve 26 over the hinge helps to prevent undue flexing of the sides at the hinge. Finally, in the crib of Dahab the foldable sides are held in open position by barrel bolts 37 which snap into locked positions when the crib is opened. In these barrel bolts, an elongated bullet-shaped member carried within one tubular side rail can slide forward to mate with an opposing tubular side rail, locking the two rails in a more or less linear configuration.
It is apparent that a deficiency of presently-available collapsible cribs is that it is difficult to construct or reinforce hinges that are sufficiently rigid to prevent undue flexing of the sides relative to the bottom of the crib, and to prevent inadvertent partial opening of the joint, both of which actions present the danger of injury to an infant. Accordingly, it would be very desirable to have available a folding crib constructed to fold into an optimally compact configuration, and yet having sturdy sides which do not flex objectionably either inwardly or outwardly.